I am writing today to announce the closure of the Michigan Messenger. After four years of operation in Michigan, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news into a single site, The American Independent at Americanindependent.com. This is part of a shift in strategy, towards new forms [...]
An abstinence-only presentation provided to numerous school districts in Calhoun and Eaton Counties in October of this year provided false and misleading information to students about HIV, experts allege.
Two county registers of deeds filed a class action lawsuit Monday on behalf of Michigan’s 83 counties alleging that the Mortgage Electronic Registration Services owes millions of dollars in property title transfer taxes.
Despite evidence of the impact of mercury on children and public health, Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette last month joined with 24 other state attorneys general in filing a lawsuit to scuttle new EPA regulations that would reduce mercury emissions from power plants.
An outbreak of the sexually transmitted bacterial infection syphilis continues to claim more patients, the Genessee County Health Department confirmed in an interview.
In August with the number of confirmed cases at 70, GCHD spokesman Mark Valacak told Michigan Messenger the outbreak was waning.
But now, nearly three months and 39 cases later, the department is ramping up education and outreach again. At least five of the newly diagnosed cases were congenital cases — found in newborns — Valacak said.
“We went for a little while and we saw no cases,” Valacak said of the outbreak. “Then we saw cases in a younger population. Syphilis tends to be in an older demographic. And now we have these congenital cases.”
The number of confirmed cases now puts Genessee County above Detroit as the place with the highest number of reported cases of syphilis in Michigan.
“Very serious,” Valacak said when asked how serious the outbreak was. “In terms of our rates for a community of our size it is of extreme concern.”
Valacak said the department is working hard to raise awareness. It is doing this through a combination of public relations moves, such as posters and signs on buses, as well as outreach to the ob-gyns. The department has also trained outreach workers to go out and work with sex workers.
Valacak said that people should learn the signs and symptoms of syphilis and get tested. “People need to be making sure they understand syphilis is a simple blood test and a treatable disease. If you are putting yourself at risk you need to be tested.”
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